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Hymns and Tunes 1886 223

Lord of the Sabbath, hear us pray

Words: Isaac B. WoodburyTune: BurtonL. M.

1Lord of the Sabbath, hear us pray
In this thy house, on this thy day;
Accept, as grateful sacrifice,
The songs which from thy temple rise.

2Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love,
But there's a nobler rest above;
To that our longing souls aspire,
With ardent hope and strong desire.

3No more fatigue, no more distress,
No sin afflicts or cares to place;
No tears shall mingle with the songs
That warble from immortal tongues.

4No rude alarms of raging foes,
No cares to break the long repose,
No midnight shade, no clouded sun,
But sacred, high, eternal noon.

5O long-expected day, begin!
Dawn on these realms of woe and sin;
Fain would I leave this weary road,
And go to keep my Sabbath, Lord.

Tune
Burton
Meter
L. M.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.8.8.8 · as printed
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 79% of beats fit
Rhyme
AABC

Could also be sung to Old Hundredth, Duke Street, Germany, Deus Tuorum Militum, Federal Street · same meter and stresses; not printed with these words, so try it first.

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Lord of the Sabbath, hear us pray/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
In this thy house, on this thy day;˘˘//˘˘//8A
Accept, as grateful sacrifice,˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
The songs which from thy temple rise.˘/˘˘//˘/8C

Verse 2

Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love,//˘/˘/˘/8A
But there's a nobler rest above;˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
To that our longing souls aspire,˘˘˘/˘/˘/8B
With ardent hope and strong desire.˘/˘/˘/˘/˘9C

Verse 3

No more fatigue, no more distress,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
No sin afflicts or cares to place;˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
No tears shall mingle with the songs˘/˘/˘˘˘/8C
That warble from immortal tongues.˘/˘˘//˘/8D

Verse 4

No rude alarms of raging foes,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
No cares to break the long repose,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
No midnight shade, no clouded sun,˘///˘/˘/8B
But sacred, high, eternal noon.˘/˘/˘/˘/8C

Verse 5

O long-expected day, begin!˘????/˘/8A
Dawn on these realms of woe and sin;/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
Fain would I leave this weary road,/˘˘/˘/˘/8B
And go to keep my Sabbath, Lord.˘/˘/˘/˘/8C

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.